Erika Girardi's Shocking Breakdown Over the Life-or-Death Fear She Has to 'Deal With Every Night'

Erika Girardi broke down in tears on Tuesday's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, shockingly revealing the personal fears she struggles with nightly

Ever since the season 7 trailer for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hillsdropped in November, fans have been waiting to see what exactly happens to cause the ever-collected Erika Girardi to break down in tears and reveal, “You don’t know what I deal with every night.”

On Tuesday’s all-new episode, they finally got their answer when the 45-year-old Dancing with the Stars contestant lost her cool during a tense Hong Kong exchange with Eileen Davidson.

It was a shocking face-off as the two women have had an incredibly close friendship before. But Davidson made the mistake of trying to reason Girardi into forgiving rival Dorit Kemsley for #pantygate by using one unfortunate analogy.

“I don’t think [Dorit] really understood what she was getting into,” Davidson said. “I don’t think she’s evil. She’s already saying ‘sorry’ — what do you want then? There’s nothing she can say or do that can make it okay? She didn’t kill your child.”

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That last line was the straw for Girardi, whose 24-year-old son, Tommy Zizzo, is a police officer.

“Don’t every bring up killing my child again because my child could get killed,” Girardi shot back, through tears. “Your kid doesn’t put on a uniform every day and night and put his life out on the line for people he doesn’t know. Don’t ever talk about my f—ing kid again. Shut the f— up. You don’t know what I deal with every night.”

Davidson immediately began apologizing, explaining that she didn’t mean it that way and that she was using the phrase as a figure of speech to reference that Kemsley didn’t “commit some horrible heinous crime.”

But Girardi couldn’t be reasoned with. “That’s really insensitive,” she continued. “Your kid’s not out there. Don’t you ever talk about anyone that puts on a uniform and defends and serves their public. F— you for that. My son is under fire every night — especially in this climate. And I’m not going to tolerate that s— from any of you.”

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“My kid can very easily be killed and that is the truth that none of you face here,” she added.

No one could have possibly expected Girardi to act that way — mainly because she’s been incredibly private about Zizzo.

“I don’t bring it up because you know what, he’s an adult and that’s his choice,” she explained before shooting down Davidson’s suggestion they take a moment to honor Zizzo. “My family is not looking for that, my son is not looking for that and I am not looking for that. Which is why I don’t talk about it. I could come and say ‘Oh my God, I’m so scared.’ But you know what, I don’t.”

“I think every mother who sends their loved one off to work knows that harm can come to them,” she confessed to viewers. “People lose their lives. It struck a nerve. That’s the one thing you can’t say to me. Don’t talk about killing my kid. Can’t take that.”

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While Davidson was left speechless, Kemsley must have appreciated not being the target of Girardi’s wrath. After all, the two rivals had been going at it the whole episode, rehashing #pantygate — which Girardi said fueled her dislike for Kemsley.

If you remember, Girardi had (allegedly) accidentally flashed Kemsley’s husband while wearing a short dress with no underwear. Instead of address the situation with Girardi directly, Kemsley criticized Girardi behind her back with the other women, suggested Girardi might have done it on purpose, and blamed Girardi for her husband’s stares — all before jokingly gifting Girardi a pair of underwear to hide “her pretty little p—.”

“Do you really think I’m going to like you after everything that happened with the underwear?” Girardi asked Kemsley on Tuesday. “I’m going to keep a safe distance from you because you took something that is innocent on my behalf and you turned it into this whole, ‘Oh she’s doing it on purpose. Oh she’s doing it for my husband’s attention.’ You took that and you ran with that.”

“Being embarrassed like that is not fun, Dorit,” she added. “And being talked about like that is not fun. That is not nice amongst a group of women.”

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For Girardi, the embarrassment was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to her worries. Now with the reputation that she was “out there flashing everybody’s husband,” she knew that her husband, Tom Girardi, would be upset.

“I’m going to have to explain this to Tom because it’s going to get around,” she said. “Something that was innocent was taken and made into something that was not. This lives and this grows. They would rather go with sensationalism. They would rather say ‘Yes, she did it on purpose,’ instead of saying, ‘You know what? She probably didn’t and I feel bad for her.’ That’s why it’s ugly.”

“I shouldn’t have to do that,” Girardi said. “I told you I’m the most sensitive. It’s funny in the moment when it dies in the moment. It’s not funny when people’s husbands become involved. …You made this a very big deal, Dorit.”

Kemsley — who had already called Girardi “cold as f—ing ice” and “not that fun” — finally understood.

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“I didn’t know all this and I feel very bad. And particularly what you said about your husband because I didn’t think about that,” she said. “Erika, I am extremely sorry if I hurt your feelings. It was never intended to hurt your feelings.”

Girardi wasn’t ready to kiss and make up, but she did advise Kemsley on what she could do next. “You can apologize to my husband for f—ing me through all this —. And then I’ll be square with you,” Girardi said. “You can apologize to him and say, ‘You know what Tom — I f—ed up.’ And then your husband can apologize to him too.”

Before any of that could happen though, Lisa Rinna had one thing to ask Kemsley. Thinking back to a dinner party she attended at Kemsley’s house, Rinna wondered: “Were people doing coke in your bathroom?”

The question caused gasps around the room — and a swift denial from Kemsley. But the battle wasn’t over just yet, as the screen flashed a “to be continued” message.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.